Bedtime Story
by bmj97
Summary: When little Max has a bad dream, he goes to Jace for help. One shot, Jace is 15 and Max is 7


It was a still, quiet night at the New York City Institute; it always was, but tonight it was especially silent, nearly all of its residents were gone. Maryse and Robert were way off in Alicante, visiting old friends. Alec and Isabelle were out for a late night dinner.

And the rest were at the Institute.

Hodge sat at his desk in the library, talking to Hugo. Little Max was curled up in bed asleep.

Jace laid in bed too, on his back with his eyes closed, trying to fall asleep as well but was failing. He had tried everything; he had even tried counting sleeps like mundanes did, but it didn't work.

He turned over on his side, opening his eyes. His room was plain and white and neat as always, so he nothing to stare at til he zoned out. He clicked his tongue with annoyance, he should have just went Alec and Isabelle, even if he wasn't hungry at least it would have gave him something to do.

His bedroom door then started to slowly creep open, and he sat up quickly, tensing. Who on earth could that be?

His question was answered when a pair of wide eyes that were hidden behind glasses peeked from behind the door. "Jace?"

Jace relaxed at the sight of Max. "What do you need, Max? I thought you were in bed."

Max nodded and he came from the door, shutting it behind him. Jace could now see he had his favorite blanket draped around his shoulders. "I was but I had a bad dream." His small voice wavered.

"Dreams aren't real. You have nothing to worry about," Jace said, laying back onto his bed again.

"I _know _that," Max said. "But it was still scary. Can I lay down with you?"

Jace sighed. "Max..."

"I went to Izzy's room but she wasn't there. Then to Alec's, and he wasn't either." Max drew his blanket closer to him.

"Fine, then. But only until they get back," Jace gave in.

Max made his way to the bed and jumped in, giggling as he bounced up then back down onto the mattress. He slid underneath the covers and curled up to Jace's side.

Jace involuntarily froze; he definitely wasn't a person that liked cuddling or any other kind of affection. "Scoot over a bit."

Max obeyed, wiggling away from Jace.

They were facing each other, so they laid there in bed, staring at one another. It made Jace uncomfortable; he definitely wasn't going to get any sleep now.

"So, um, what was your nightmare about?"

"Oh!" Max paused for a moment, his forehead crinkling up from thinking. "I can't remember."

"If you can't remember, how do you know it was a bad dream?"

"I don't know, I just do," Max smiled.

Kids really confused Jace. "Okay, then. Good night."

"Good night!"

Jace closed his eyes again. He knew that there was no way he was gonna fall asleep anytime soon, he just hoped that if he pretended to Max would go along with it and do the same.

Of course, that failed. Less than a minute later a voice interrupted the silence. "Jace?"

Jace didn't answer. Maybe if he went on and played like he was asleep...

"I can't sleep, what if I have a bad dream again?" Max continued.

Jace sighed once again, opening his eyes.

"Izzy sometimes tells me a story. Could you do that?" The little boy looked at Jace with wide, begging eyes.

"Absolutely not," Jace answered, turning around towards the wall and away from Max. "Good night, Max."

Everything was quiet as he laid there for a moment. He was starting to feel bad; the only reason why he was so snappy with Max was because he was annoyed at not getting any sleep, and Max couldn't help that.

So he sat up on the bed, crossing his legs. "I'll tell you a short story."

Max looked up at him happily. "Okay."

Jace hesitated before starting. "Once upon a time...There was a boy named-"

"Max!" Max finished for him.

"Yeah. And you know where Max lived?"

"The Institute!"

Jace shook his head. "No..he lived in a far away world made of ice cream."

Max's eyes lit up. Jace knew that ice cream was his most favorite thing to eat ever.

"The buildings were made out of ice cream, the cars were made out of ice cream, the streets, the trees, everything."

"Vanilla ice cream?"

"All kinds," Jace said. "Whatever flavor you could think of."

"How about pizza flavored ice cream?" Pizza was Max's second favorite food.

"Sure..."

"Cool!" Max grinned.

"Mhm," Jace continued. "And all Max did everyday, was play with his friends and eat pizza flavored ice cream. The end."

"No, that was a short story!"

"I told you it was gonna be short," Jace shrugged before laying back down on the bed. "But guess what."

"What?"

"You could go to the ice cream world. If you go to sleep. And I promise, you won't have anymore bad dreams."

Max thought about this for a moment. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

Max smiled again. "Okay!"

He slid from the covers and out the bed, grabbing his blanket. "You know, I think I'll go back to my room."

_Success. _"Okay, then," Jace answered.

"Good night, Jace. Thanks for the story, I really liked it!" Max said happily as he made his way to the door.

"Good night, Max. And no problem."


End file.
